Senegal has ordered the release of journalist and government critic Pape Ale Niang, whose detention for more than a month incensed the media community and human rights defenders, one of his lawyers said Wednesday.
The head of the Dakar Matin online news site, Niang was arrested on November 6 and charged with “divulging information likely to harm national defence”.
He went on a hunger strike on December 2 to protest his imprisonment, and his defence team said he was taken to a clinic earlier this week after his health deteriorated.
A judge in Dakar on Wednesday was said to have ordered his provisional release on bail, his passport withdrawn, a travel ban and a ban on commenting on the case.
According to local media, Niang was released Tuesday and he ended his hunger strike on Wednesday.
Well-known in Senegal for his regular columns on current affairs, Niang was arrested after he wrote about rape charges being faced by the country’s main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko.
He is accused of “receiving administrative and military documents” and “spreading false news likely to bring public institutions into disrepute”, having broadcast confidential messages about security arrangements for Sonko’s November 3 interrogation over the rape allegations.
The messages were widely shared by others on social media.
Investigators and Niang’s lawyers did not specify what documents were being used against him.
His detention sparked a wave of criticism from the press, civil society groups and Senegal’s opposition — many of whom called for his release.
Reporters Without Borders praised the Dakar court’s decision Wednesday.
“We are happy with this court decision, which will allow Pape Ale Niang to reunite with his family, his friends, and who will above all be able to resume his work as a journalist,” said RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire, who visited the Senegalese journalist in prison earlier this month.
“We now call on the Senegalese authorities to drop all charges against him.”
Senegal ranks 73rd out of 180 countries in RSF’s latest press freedom index.
The country dropped 24 places compared with 2021.